Fate
by dreamlabyrinth
Summary: A short story that tells about Jareth's father.


My first try on publishing fanfiction, so please be patient. I appreciate any feedback on this short story.

* * *

The young couple on the bed was half-naked. She giggled and threw back her long, black hair as he placed a line of small kisses along her neck, over her breasts and down her stomach. He lifted his head to look into her eyes. They were inviting him to go on, and with a smile, he bent down again.  
  
A sharp knock on the door made him turn around, cursing under his breath.  
  
"What?" he yelled angrily. The girl let her head fall back into the pillows, an annoyed look on her face. It wasn't the first time they had been disturbed.  
  
From outside, there was a soft cough and then an old man's voice answered.  
"His Highness would like to see you." They heard the old servant move away. There was no need to wait for an answer. If the king summoned, the only answer was to be there as soon as possible, preferably before being called. His Highness did not like to be left waiting. But the young man took his time. Slowly he put on his clothes and tried to talk with his companion, but she was too nervous to answer. The king didn't like her overmuch anyway, and she didn't want to be the reason to enrage him.  
  
The young man strolled down the corridors in a graceful, if rather slow pace, sometimes chatting with one of the guards. So it was considerably later when he finally reached the throne room. He stood in the door, tall and proud, every strand of his blond hair perfectly in place. His clothes were cut tight to the body, revealing his muscles on legs and arms. He was a handsome man, but the king had no eyes for that.  
He was sitting on the marble throne, hunched over as if the weight of the massive crown was too much for him to bear. His eyes sparkled with rage. "I believe I have summoned you quite some time ago, Garwein." he said, and his voice made it clear that he didn't want another answer than a humble excuse. But Garwein wasn't the man to excuse himself. "I have been quite busy when you called." Some of the servants gasped at that. Nobody ever talked to the His Highness like that. The king looked around and then stood up. "Follow me into the small salon." he ordered, and Garwein wandered over.  
  
The large door, hidden behind beautiful tapestries, closed behind them. The room had no windows, was lit only by the large candles standing on every piece of furniture. There were a few mahogany chairs, matching the small drawers and the bureau. But none of the men took a seat. Garwein was outwardly calm, closely investigating one of the paintings. The king was pacing up and down nervously. He tried several times before he managed to speak. "Strive to behave a little more according to your rank, Garwein. This just won't do."  
  
Slowly, the young man turned around. "Let me get this clear first. Are you talking to me as my king, or as my father?"  
"Both, I suppose." The king walked over and put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Please, for once be serious. This is a very serious matter."  
Garwein shrugged and sat down on a small couch. "Well then, what is it?"  
"Your friends are bragging about having been Aboveground. Is that true?"  
A wolfish grin appeared on Garwein's face. "Of course it is. And it has been so much fun. The human girls are really interesting."  
The king sighed and flinched. "So it is true. You really went to a mortal woman."  
"Of course I did. Father, this is what we've been doing for a few hundred years..."  
"But not YOU!" his father yelled. The sound of rustling feet outside made him realize that the servants would hear every word, and he tried to calm down. "Not you. I have told you a hundred times not to go Aboveground."  
Garwein was annoyed. "Why not? Everybody else does it. And what does it matter if I sleep with a mortal. She'll think it was a dream anyway, and then the baby just won't grow."  
  
Suddenly very tired, the king sat down. "That is true for any relation between a Fae and a mortal. If the mortal doesn't believe in the incident, takes it to be a dream, then if she is pregnant, the baby will die inside of her and she will never know that she carried it."  
"See, no problem at all. And she didn't even know who I was."  
The king frowned. "What do you mean?"  
"Well, I went to her because she called my name." At that, the king almost jumped up, but then decided to wait for the rest of the story. "At least she said something that sounded a little like my name. So I went to her, and we had a wonderful time. I was gone before she woke up, everything's alright. She doesn't know I'm Fae, she doesn't even know I exist."  
  
A look in his father's face told him that it wasn't all right at all. "Haven't you been told that you never ever go to a mortal that calls your name? If they know our names, they have power over us."  
Garwein shrugged. "She didn't really call my name. She said something like Gawain. But she was cute, and it was close enough."  
The king rolled his eyes in despair. "Do you ever think about what may come of your little affairs?"  
Garwein suddenly realized how tired and sad his father looked. He walked over and kneeled down next to the old man, hugging him. "It's alright, Father, really."  
"No. No it isn't. It's all my fault. I should have told you years ago.  
The young man turned to look into his father's eyes."What are you talking about?"  
Again the king sighed. "I didn't tell you the truth. You see, you've been my son for so long that I sometimes forget..."  
Garwein was anxious. He didn't like the direction this was going. "Forget what?"  
"You are not my son."  
  
Garwein dropped his arms, sitting down on the floor. He was stunned. That couldn't be true! For as long as he could remember, he had been the son of the Goblin King, and now that was supposed to be not true?  
"You are a human child. Your mother wished you to me and then failed to solve the Labyrinth. You were a very bright child, even at that small age. You weren't even a year old. So I decided to make you my son. I couldn't make you Fae, but I could make you live much longer and age much slower than humans. But you still are one of them."  
He didn't dare to look at his son.  
Garwein stared down at the carpet. "I'm human. I'm nothing but a damned mortal." He felt his father's hand on his back and moved away. "You lied to me. All these years you lied!"  
The king seemed to shrink in even more. "I love you, Garwein. You are my son. And you are going to be king as soon as I retire."  
"I'm going to die."  
"Yes, one day you are going to die. But you have a son to take your place."  
  
Garwein looked up. "What son? The Fae women take care not to..." And then it hit him. If he wasn't Fae, then a mortal woman impregnated by him would stay pregnant. It was a simple, mortal child she would be carrying, not a Fae child. Mortal babies didn't die when their mothers refused to believe in their existence. Aboveground, there was most likely a mortal woman pregnant with his child. He cursed.  
The king nodded. "That is why I never wanted you to go Aboveground."  
"What do we do now? Won't she try to get rid of the child?"  
"If she does, she might die. Or at least damage her body a lot. She might go to some wise woman to get herbs, or she might ask a wandering doctor to do it. But human medicine is much less advanced than ours."  
  
Garwein remembered things he had seen on his trip Aboveground. All the dirt, so many poor people begging along dusty roads, carts and waggons passing by, drawn by horses or donkeys. Some castles, but they were dark and dirty, with bare stone walls. Many, many small huts, airless holes populated by too many people.  
And in there, a woman pregnant with his child. She had been good looking enough, with dark hair and a soft, beautiful body. A body that might now carry his son.  
  
"We have to get her to come here. I can't have my son grow up in that kind of environment." It might be nothing but a mortal, but it was his son nonetheless. And a little mortal bastard running around in the castle would not be much of a problem.  
The king nodded, then rang a bell. The servant came in so fast, most likely he had stood behind the door all the time. "Your Highness?"  
"The prince is going to bring down his wife from Aboveground. Make a room ready for her." The servant bowed, hiding his thoughts behind a blank face.  
  
As soon as he had left, Garwein turned to his father. "My wife? Do you expect me to marry that... mortal?" He made it sound like an insult. The king gave him a stern look. "You are a mortal yourself. And do you think an illegitimate son might rule the kingdom?"  
  
There was no other way, and Garwein knew it. Cursing his fate, he went Aboveground once more to fetch a young mortal woman and take her Underground.  
  
Nine months later, she died giving birth to a son. As Garwein had by then become Goblin King, the baby became crown prince. The first and last time Garwein held the child was during naming ceremony. After the name had been announced, and the child introduced to the minions as Crown Prince Jareth, Garwein never looked at him again, refusing to accept that he himself was a mere mortal, and that his son was human, too.  
  
In an environment filled with hate and contempt, Jareth grew up.


End file.
